State engineer seeks input on handling apparent water shortage

The state engineer’s office says in parts of Laramie and Goshen Counties, demand for water appears to exceed supply.

State Engineer Pat Tyrrell says groundwater and surface water are connected in that area, so people who draw down the water in their wells are affecting water in streams, which means less water flows into the Hawk Spring Reservoir. He says there hasn’t been enough water to go around for quite some time.

“So now we really have to address how to manage the system,” Tyrell said. “Either we find a voluntary way to share between surface water and groundwater, or does the state engineer have to consider issuing some order … that sort of forces that decision?”

Tyrrell is hosting a public hearing in LaGrange on April 12th to discuss the options.